Yarn feed disabling apparatus for hosiery knitting machines



Nov. 12, 1968 BOYER ET AL 3,410,114

YARN FEED DISABLING APPARATUS FOR HOSIERY KNITTING MACHINES Filed May31, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS' Kerwin R. Boyer and BY Rona/iihaw AT TORNE Y WITNESS 94 @M P24 1 Nov. 12, 1968 K. R. BOYER ET AL 3,410,114

YARN FEED DISABLING APPARATUS FOR HOSIERY KNITTING MACHINES Filed May51, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3.

INVENTORS Kerwin R. Boyer and wmvsss BY Rona/d Shaw ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent Office 3,410,114 Patented Nov. 12, 1968 ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Access to the interior of the needle cylinder of a hosierymachine is obtainable by lifting the dial of such machine. To preventthe dial from striking yarn feed fingers as such dial is swung upward,all yarn feed fingers of such machine are dropped to below the ordinarylevel of the dial, thereby freeing such dial for its upward swlng.

This invention relates in general to hosiery knitting machines, and inparticular to an improved technique for allowing ready access to theinterior of the needle cylinder of a hosiery knitting machine throughwhich knitted stockings are adapted to pass.

To gain access to the interior of a hosiery knitting machine it isordinarily necessary that the dial assembly, including the dial and itscap, of the machine be swung out of and away from its overlyingrelationship with respect to the top end of the needle cylinder. Toswing the dial assembly away from the needle cylinder requires that theyarn feed fingers-which when not actuated to their respective yarnfeeding positions usually overhang the dial assembly along a collisioncourse therewith-be repositioned out of the arcuate swing of the dialassembly so as not to be broken or damaged thereby. Present practice forpositioning the yarn feed fingers is to engage such fingers by suitablemeans, and to swing them upwardly" and arcuately away from the needlecylinder. This necessitates not only a large yarn feed finger swing, butalso a swing that is generally directed into and toward the complexlycluttered mechanisms already atop the machine.

To overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, the present inventionsuggests, not the arcuate lifting of yarn feed fingers for needlecylinder access, but rather the simultaneous arcurate lowering of all ofthe yarn feed fingers to generally their respective yarn feedingpositions, whereby such feed fingers are all positioned out of thearcuate upward swing of the dial assembly, and this in an extremelysimple way.

A principal object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus foruse with hosiery knitting machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus for usein positioning the yarn feed fingers of a hosiery knitting machine foraccess to the needle cylinder of the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide yarn controller apparatusfor hosiery knitting machines that permits of easy access to the needlecylinder of the machine without need for upwardly swinging the yarn feedfingers of the controller.

The invention will be described with reference to the figures wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a presently preferred form of theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a view, partially cutaway, showing details of construction ofthe apparatus of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view, partially cutaway, taken from FIG. 3,and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view useful in teaching the concepts of theinvention.

Referring to the figurse, a hosiery knitting machine has a needlecylinder 10 having the usual complement of needles, jacks, etc., whichneedle cylinder is supported for rotation about its axis by means notshown. Drivable with the needle cylinder 10 is a dial assembly 12 havinga gear drive 14 that is adapted to be driven by the needle cylinderdrive. The dial assembly includes the usual dial 16, in which locatestransfer bits for the making of stocking welts, and a dial cap 18 for acam or cams actuating the transfer bits. The dial assembly 12 isarcuately positionable upwardly away from the needle cylinder 10 alongan arc 20 to gain access to the needle cylinder interior.

Surrounding the needle cylinder 10 is a ring type member 22, against thetop face 24 of which respective yarn feed fingers 26 (a, b, 0 etc.) offeed stations A and B, respectively, are adapted to rest when in yarnfeeding engagement. The yarn feed stations A, B are essentiallyidentical and, generally hereafter, though only the feed station A isreferred to, the description is relevant also to feed station B. A yarnfeed controller 30 cooperates to select which of the respective yarns Yis to be fed to the needles 32 of the needle cylinder 10. The yarn feedfingers 26 are pivotally supported, between a pair of braces 33, on ashaft 34, and are so spring biased by respective springs 36 that thefeed fingers 26 are urged toward the ring type member 22. Designed tokeep the yarn fingers 26 up and out of yarn feeding engagement with thering type member 22 are respective finger control levers 38, whichlevers are selectively disabled as will be described later to allow thefeed fingers 26 to drop selectively into operation.

The finger control levers 38 are rotatably supported on a shaft 40 in agenerally U-shaped carriage 42. The shaft 40 extends, at both of itsends from the carriage 42 and resides in elongated slots 44 in a supportpost 46. Steadying the carriage 42 for up-down translational positioningare bosses 48, also residing in elongated slots 50 in the support post46. A comb 52 having slots 54, serves to keep the front ends of thecontrol levers 38 in fixed spaced apart relationship; and a comb S6similarly operates on the back ends of the levers 38.

A control drum 58 is rotatably supported on a sprag 60 between brackets62 that are formed as part of the support post 46. The control drum 58is provided with peripherally located jacks 64 which serve to assertcounterclockwise forces (looking at FIG. 1) on the levers 38 by bearingagainst their respective bosses 66, thereby exerting counterclockwisetorques on the respective feed fingers 26 about their supporting shaft34, and against the tensions of the respective springs 36. Absence of abutt on a jack 64 (when the carriage 42 is in the position shown inFIG. 1) releases a particular lever 38, which in turn releases a feedfinger 26 to reside against the face 24 of the ring type member 22 foryarn feeding purposes.

An arm mmeber 68 is rotatably supported on the controller sprag 60, androtatably supports a pawl 70 that is biased by a spring 72 intoengagement with a ratchet 74 fixedly secured to the drum 58. The pawlarm member 68 so supports a bar 76 that upward reciprocation of a pawldrive 78 causes a second pawl 80 to drop from disengagement intoengagement with a second ratchet 82, which ratchet 82 is the same as,but counter oriented with respect to, the ratchet 74 and is also securedto the drum 58. The pawl 80 is rotatably supported by a bracket 84, andis spring biased by a spring 86 to ride against the bar 76.

A shaft 90, notched sufficiently wide as at 92 to accommodate thecontrol lever carriage 42, is rotatable in the support post 46 by meansof a lever 94. With the lever 3 94 locked in place (see FIG. 1) by meansof a carriage lock 96, the carriage rests atop the full diameter of theshaft 90, whereby the levers 38 and their bosses 66 are engaged foractuation by the jacks 64 of the feed con-' trol drum 58; with the lever94 rotated as shown by FIG. 2, the control lever carriage 42 drops intothe shaft notch 92, whereby the lever bosses 66 are all disengaged fromthe drum jacks 64, thus permitting the feed fingers 26 to drop intoplace against the ring type member 22 of the machine.

As can be readily appreciated, the prior need for cumbersomely upwardlyswinging the feed fingers 26 along a wide are (which incidentally is ofeven a more critical nature for the feed station E) to get them out ofthe way of the dial assembly l2-when there is need to raise the dialassemblyis obviated in the present instance by the simple expedience ofdisabling the feed control drum 58 from the feed finger control levers38. That is to say, by dropping the lever carriage 42 into the shaftnotch 92 (see FIG. 5) by means of the lever 94, the feed fingers 38 areall permitted to swing slightly arcurately downwardly, by just enough toallow the dial assembly 12 to swing free and clear along its are 20.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form, it is tobe understood that the words which have been used are words ofdescription rather than of limitation and that changes within thepurview of the appended claims may be made without departing from thetrue scope and spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimedherein is:

1. In a hosiery machine of the type having a slotted needle cylinder,needles contained within the slots of said needle cylinder, a pluralityof yarn feed fingers for supplying yarn to said needles, a dial assemblyadapted for cooperation with the needles, capable of being selectivelylifted to a point above said needle cylinder so that access to theinterior of said needle cylinder may be gained, apparatus for use in sopositioning the yarn feed fingers of said hosiery knitting machine thatsaid fingers avoid contact with the dial assembly of said machine whensaid assembly is raised above the needle cylinder of said machinecomprising first means for use in selectively moving the fingers intoand out of yarn feeding position with respect to the needles of saidmachine, second means for disabling said first means and for positioningall said feed fingers substantially into their respective feedingpositions with respect to the needle cylinder of said machine, wherebysaid fingers cannot be contacted by said dial assembly, and means foroperating said second means, said yarn feed fingers being biased intotheir respective feeding positions with respect to the needle cylinderof the machine, said first means including respective levers for saidfingers for normally suspending said fingers above said needle cylinderin their respective nonfeeding positions against their respectivebiases, and control means for engaging said levers and for selectivelyoperating on said levers to release the respective feed fingers to theirrespective feeding positions, said second means being means fordisengaging all said levers from said control means, and including acarriage, means for pivotally supporting said levers in said carriage,and means for so positioning said carriage that said levers may contact,or not, said control means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for positioning saidcarriage includes bracket means, a shaft rotatably supported within saidbracket means, said shaft having a notch at least as wide as a givenside of said carriage, means for so supporting said carriage within saidbracket means for translational movement therein in continual contiguousrelationship with said shaft that said carriage may, or may not, ride insaid notch depending on the angular orientation of said shaft, therebydefining two positions for said levers with respect to said controlmeans.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,123,937 1/1915 Scott 66l251,643,341 9/1927 Landry 66138 2,209,061 7/1940 Lawson et al. 66-138 XR2,679,149 5/1954 St. Pierre 66-138 3,013,415 12/1961 Auton 66138 XR3,296,836 1/1967 Billi 66138 FOREIGN PATENTS 293,661 8/1916 Germany.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner.

